Turnpike Cafe captures 3rd straight over 30 softball title

Members of Turnpike Café celebrate their over 30 title at Messinger Field.

The Turnpike Café softball team captured its third straight Canton Men’s Over 30 Softball League title on August 23 at Messinger field in front of dozens of fans who braved the rain to watch them defeat a very strong American Legion team.

Turnpike, led by a trio of Shaughnessys (Ryan, Kevin and Steve), finished the regular season with a 6-5 record, good enough for second place and a first-round bye in the playoffs. With wins over Blue Hills Brewery and Canton Junction, Turnpike put itself in a strong position where it would need to be beaten twice on championship Sunday.

The finals came down to timely two-out hitting as Mike O’Brien and Chris Sykes both had very big hits late in the game, each scoring a couple of runs to break away. Brady Martin also had a nice day at the plate, hitting a tape-measure homerun. But the real story of the season was the play of James Green and Kevin Shaughnessy, who were awarded the team MVPs.

“Jim was born to toss 12 foot arc,” a teammate said. “He shows up every game to pitch and does a job that few want to do.”

Kevin Shaughnessy also had a very strong season, getting on base constantly in the leadoff spot while playing great defense.

The team would like to send out a special thanks to Pat Brodigan and the staff at the Turnpike Café for their support all season long. Other members of the championship squad included Joey MacDonald, Nick Lance, Pat McCloud, Mike Wice, John Dever, Bill Mulvey, Mike Facchini, and Chuck Gillis.

Submitted by Pat McCloud

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Sep 4 2015. Filed under Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.